Harry Potter The Guardian
by pddpro
Summary: As it turned out, using the deathly hallows didn't make harry the master of death at all! Instead, the death took an offense and when harry died, manipulated him to help her out. In a new universe lives a new Chosen One whom Harry is required to protect. Armed with the Death's cloak of invisibility, Harry ventures into a new world looking for new adventures.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. This is merely a fan fiction and no money is being made out of it.**

 **AN: So, yeah.. yet another HP fanfiction. It is actually my first fanfic (not my first novella, mind) so I implore you to be a little patient while reading it and of course, reviews are always welcome.**

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"You are mental!"

A voice rang in the whiteness that encompassed the entire world. This was not a world for world isn't a non-ending whiteness, this was a domain. A domain of someone powerful and right in the middle of the domain was a distraught man trying to argue with the emptiness itself.

"Perhaps, I have been called many things. Although, I confess that 'mental' is a first." rang a sweet voice of a maiden.

"I was not talking about your name, I was talking about what you said," the boy protested.

"I know," the voice answered.

"I mean, of all the beings in the god's green world, you, the lady death herself, how could you possibly ask me of such a ridiculous thing?"

The man, who was characterized by a messy and untameable black hair and a sharp emerald green eyes was almost shouting now.

"Besides, you haven't even showed yourself to me.. Do you realise how rude it is?" the man protested.

"Oh, how crass of me."

Out of the whiteness itself, a lady dressed entirely in black appeared out of nowhere in front of the man. She had long black hair and her face itself was reeking of a mysterious and unfathomable power. Not to mention, she looked quite gorgeous with deep black eyes and a smooth pale face.

She offered her hand forward and frowned at the man when he refused to pay any attention to it. Finally, no longer able to bear the displeasure that was showing on her face, the man took her face and gently kissed it.

"Showy as always aren't you Lady Death?" He said in a displeased voice.

"Can't say I am not, but at least I am not so showy as a certain someone who barges into a nest of Hungarian Horntail itself," she retaliated.

"Hey! That was an accident! Besides, the report only mentioned two Horntails there," He replied.

"Funny that. One would think that taking on two Horntails was foolish on its own," Death said.

"Heh! It is isn't it. That is, if you aren't me," the man replied.

"Boastful much?" Death said

"You know I am not! If the third hadn't sneaked on me from behind, I wouldn't have died. After all, I had already subdued the two of them." the man said with a smirk on his face.

"Indeed," Death replied.

"You know," the man started, "after living an entire hundred years, not an idle life, mind. One would think that he would finally get some rest after his death. Tell me again, why do you deny me that right, Lady Death?" It was clear that the man was quite furious with the lady Death in front of him.

"It is not that you are being denied the afterlife, Harry James Potter (don't use my full name!). Think of it as an.. excursion, if you will."

"I don't want an excursion!" Harry said angrily.

"Do not blame me, Harry James Potter, for it was not me who did that," she replied.

The man raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, is it not you who is denying me my rights then?"

At his less than respectful tone, Lady Death merely shrugged rather than showing her own displeasure,

"It is me, yes. But it is not me who brought it upon you. You lived your life like one should, Harry James Potter (Would you stop it already!). Granted that the latter half of your life was.. reckless, what with hunting dragons and nundus and all but that doesn't matter. What matters is, at one point in your life, your laid your hands on all three hallows. Yes, it was but for a short time but the point is you took ownership of all three of my hallows and thus attempted to tame me. Tame death of all things!" she snorted.

"I did not do that willingly! I didn't even know and I certainly didn't want to tame you for crying out loud. Besides, I even destroyed that cursed wand!" Harry screamed at her.

"Yes you did, but no, you did not. The hallows can't be destroyed Harry James Potter (for the love of..). But that too, doesn't matter. No matter how much you argue, you have knowingly or unknowingly attempted to bind me and that is an offense towards me. But," she raised her hands to interrupt Harry who had begun to say something in retort, "I understand that you are innocent. That, in addition to the fact that you did me a service by destroying the vile piece of magic that you mortals call Horcrux and returned to me a soul that had tried to cheat me, I had forgiven you."

"So," Harry asked, "Why did you stopped me from passing to the afterlife?"

"As I said, Harry Potter (finally!), that was not my doing. It was the request of Fate, my sister, due to which I intercepted you. And since I have power over you due to you being the owner of my three hallows at one point, means that I can request of you what Fate has asked of me. A request that you are not allowed to deny."

Harry was, understandably, furious. Despite of what other said, living a long life of a century was a tiring process and at the end of his life when he was being showered by Draon fire, Harry remembered being happy that he was finally getting a rest that he deserved, but no, apparently he was damned to be manipulated even after his death.

"I know that it is not a pleasant thing that I ask of you Harry Potter but I ask of you to consider it for a moment." Although Death's tone was entirely haughty, there was a hint of request that wasn't lost on Harry.

Giving to the circumstance, Harry let a sigh escape from him. A sigh that suggested I-might-as-well.

"Good," Lady Death said in a pleased tone.

"So, what do you want of me?" Harry asked.

"I wish you to take a mortal form again and provide your aid to a certain someone," Lady Death said.

"You want me to go to another world? To help someone?" Harry asked in an unbelieving tone.

"Indeed Harry Potter. There are many different worlds as there are many different Harry Potters and Lord Voldemorts and your services are required in one of those world."

"What type of services if I may ask?"

"You can ask of course. And I might as well answer your question," Death said in a not so amused tone, "In a world not so different from yours, there is a Lord Voldemort. And much like how you were, there is a Chosen One too. The only problem here is that while you possessed a strong will that was superior to most of the mortals, the Chosen One of that world doesn't possess such strong well. You understand right? What happens when a person of a less than superior is forced to live with a family that doesn't love them?"

"They will break," Harry said flatly showing that the topic didn't cheer him in the slightest.

"Indeed. And the Chosen One is very close to being broken. This is where you come in." Death said to him.

"I come in how?" Harry asked in an uncertain voice.

"Be there for the Chosen One, Harry Potter. Be a friend, be a family, be a guardian. Show the Chosen One a path to vanquish the filthy cheater who has attempted to cheat me in that world."

"You want me to baby sit him?" Harry asked.

"In a way, yes. But I do not merely ask you to nurse the Chosen One. I wish you to be a guide, a beacon if you will."

Lady Death's tone was suggestive and yet it seemed that there was nothing that Harry Potter could do but accept it, despite of him having other thoughts.

"Sigh.. Very well, so.. Essentially I am to support him and guide him to vanquish Voldemort, is that it?"

"Indeed. That is the crux of the matter. But I further ask of you to not be too involved with the Chosen One's life." Death clarified.

"But! How can I guide him if I am not involved?" Harry protested.

"That is for you to decide, isn't it?" Lady Death answered slyly.

"Is it now? I was under the impression that I was not to decide things by myself.." Harry snickered.

"That was a very wrong impression then. Of course, I have faith in you to take right steps to guide the Chosen One even when under such severe restrictions."

"Fine fine.." said Harry under his breath, "Anything more you want to offer?"

Death managed a light smirk on her face.

"Funny you should ask that. Yes, I do have something to offer you. First, you may keep your magical prowess, which I believe was second to none in your world being the Lord of Light and all, and second and most important, I give you full access to one of my hallows, my cloak of invisibility to be exact. Not only will it now recognize you as its master, but it will also allow you its full use."

Out of nowhere, Death conjured a fluid like silky silvery cloak of invisibility and personally handed it to Harry.

"Err.. When I asked you for more to offer, I actually meant information you know. Nonetheless, thanks for the cloak." Harry said.

"Information, that will also be given to you Harry Potter. But believe me when I say, this cloak is of much more importance to you so listen well when I say that before now, no mortal has ever used this cloak to its full potential, except for perhaps Ignotus Peverell in one of the alterverse, I do not recall which." Lady Death said with a contemplative look on her face.

"So, it isn't merely an invisible cloak then?" Harry asked, which in retrospect wasn't a smart thing to ask for Lady Death immediately sported an indignant expression on her face.

"Of course not you fool! (Hey! that was uncalled for!). This cloak is one of my Hallows. One of Death's Hallow. How could it be a mere invisibility cloak? No, a mere invisibility cloak can not hide you from Death. This, however, actually hides you from the reality itself! Use this cloak and no ward will register you, no creature would smell you, nor would any other being feel you. In short, you would not exist for each and all purposes so long as you are under the cloak. Apart from that, this cloak can also fool the reality by modifying your presence from one place to another. That is to say, it is a handy tool for magic travel. And there are many other nifty uses for it but you need not be concerned. Once you use it, it would naturally tell you and only you, for I have approved of you, of all its secrets." Death finished her explanation leaving Harry utterly dazed as he tried to soak up everything that was said to him.

"It's.. amazing!" Harry managed only two words but it visibly pleased Lady Death for she had a wide smile on her face. In that moment Harry thought that if he didn't know that it was Death itself before him, he would have found the sight extremely dazzling.

"I am flattered Harry Potter." Lady Death said, as if reading his thoughts.

"Wait, how did you," he checked his occlumency barriers and found none, "never mind."

"So, if there is no more to be said then I would like for you to begin your task." Death offered.

"To guard the brat right? Fine then, get me to him." Harry relented. Seeing a sly looking smile forming on Death's face, he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you laughing?"

Death merely replied, "Oh I think that you are going to love it Harry Potter.. your next great adventure that is.."

Death then took a step forward and lightly pushed him backwards and suddenly the vast expanse of white where Harry and Death had been conversing before, was no more.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"What the," Harry suddenly found himself sitting in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

He clearly remembered his previous life and then he also remembered his last moments when a nasty Hungarian Horntail had managed to roast him alive. Granted that wasn't the best of his memories but it was what happened after he died that was of particular significance to him. He found himself in all white, then he had that conversation with that almost beautiful (if she were not a death) lady and then she had pushed him back and now he was sitting in the Ice Cream Parlour of all places.

"Clearly, today has not been the best of days," Harry muttered under his breath. While it may have been a bit of an understatement, the feel behind Harry's word more than made up for it.

He glance at the table where a Daily Prophet newspaper lied. He moved to get it and that was when he got his first shock.

"The fuck!" the words escaped Harry's mouth before he could consciously monitor his volume.

Hurriedly, two or three of mothers who were sitting all around him hastily covered the ears of their young children which couldn't help but embarrass Harry a bit.

"Now now young man," a man that emerged from the parlor who suspiciously looked like a much younger Florean Fortescue himself said in an stern tone, "that is not a good thing to say. Where are your parents young man!? Are you here alone?"

Harry say that the middle aged man was eyeing him quite suspiciously. Controlling his demeanour, Harry said in a small voice,

"I am all alone sir. And sorry for earlier, I was just startled. It won't happen again, I promise."

Mr. Fortescue remained eying him for some moment and apparently satisfied from his response, made his way back to the parlor.

Cursing himself for losing his control of volume, Harry got up from his seat and almost ran towards the nearest bathroom. When he was inside, he found a mirror and looked at it to find the thing that had startled him so bad,

His reflection was that of a young boy! So young that he almost looked like a ten year old himself. Indeed, his face was the same as that of a young Harry Potter in his earlier universe. He had the same spectacle that he could remember using in those time and his hair was messier as usual. The same emerald green eyes gazed back at him, shock quite apparent in both of them. In short, Harry Potter was now a child.

"You never said I was to be a runt again!" Harry complained to no one in particular but could swore that he almost heard a feminine laughter in his consciousness.

His body stature had, unsurprisingly, reduced to the one appropriate of a ten year old (thankfully the mirror was just in his reach) which, if Harry were to think for a while, wasn't bothering his balance a bit. In fact, it felt quite natural to him, as if the body belonged to him. Granted that his hands, earlier while he was reaching for the Daily Prophet, managed to scare him, for it was a hand of a child, but after the initial shock had settled, he found himself quite comfortable in his body.

Harry gave a long sigh as if admitting his defeat against the fate and banished any remaining concerns from the top of his head. As if he knew it was there, he reached to the pockets of his ten-year-old sized robes and took out his silvery cloak of invisibility, a gift from Lady Death herself.

He wore the cloak in one swift motion and found himself overwhelmed. It was nothing like he had ever felt before! And that coming from a man who had bathed in the Dragon Fire itself, was quite a thing to say. It was warm and comfortable and he felt as if nothing could hurt him while he was wrapped in that cloak of his. On top of that, he felt that he almost knew what the cloak was, as if it was a part of his body himself. Like how his hands felt, he could feel that he could command the cloak and he even knew what to command it. Closing his eyes, he wished the cloak to take him away from here to the destination that he was wanting to go and suddenly he found himself in front of a house. A house that he knew all too well, Number 4, Private Drive.

"Boy does it bring memories," Harry said to no one in particular.

From the front he could see the Number 4 Private Drive where he was never welcomed. He saw the house that he spent his significant part of childhood in and where he was forced to come each summer despite of his non-existential desire in that matter.

Harry made his way to the back to the sickeningly perfect garden, each grass trimmed with a frightening precision. But he was not here to admire the garden, no. He was here to meet the chosen one.

All around him he could feel the powerful ward that the most powerful wizard of this time, Albus Dumbledore himself had set with a little help (Ha!) from his mother herself. Harry could feel the love that his mother had for him, even in the last hours of her life. He could feel that it was singing to himself, a phoenix like song that almost welcomed him to home and a terrible war cry to those who wished him harm.

"Mother's love even transcends universes huh," Harry observed.

Harry did not step into the house. No, because he could feel that his counterpart in this world was not inside the house, the wards were telling him that. Curious about that, Harry began to wonder where he could have gone at this time of day. The sun was about to set and he couldn't think of many places that his counterpart could be at. Suddenly, he had an inspiration. It wasn't exactly an inspiration per se. More accurately, he felt that he had always known it.

He was still inside his cloak and he merely willed it to take him to his counterpart. Without even the need for his name or his magical signature for that matter, the cloak faded him away and brought him to the park that he remembered he used to frequent. It wasn't particularly fond memory of his because he remembered that he had to hide himself while he was here lest Dudley and his gang found him. Dispelling those thoughts, Harry searched around the park. Since it was already beginning to become dark, there weren't many children around. For a moment, he felt a bit uncomfortable, being a grown man around the children and all that but he promptly recalled that he was no longer a grown man and even if he were one, others couldn't see him. Collecting his thoughts, he moved forward wondering why his cloak brought him here if his counterpart wasn't here at all but he immediately dropped that notion because not even ten steps after, he found what he was looking for.

His first thoughts were.. "Mother?"

Thankfully, he didn't say that aloud although even if he had said that out aloud, nobody would have heard him. But that didn't matter because he was, quite frankly, shocked. When he agreed to this assignment of Death herself, never did he think that his counterpart, he.. no, she.. was a girl!

Yes, sitting behind one of the trees, huddled up in herself was a little girl. A child whose prominent features were her dirty red hair. Her face was buried in her chest and he hadn't gotten a good look at her but he was sure. Frighteningly sure that it was for her he was brought to this universe. Harry moved a little closer and stopped in his tracks. She was crying.

It wasn't that she was letting her tears fall freely, no. She was sobbing. And for some reason, Harry found that his heart itself was hurting to see the child crying like that. He edged towards her slowly, careful not to frighten her and remembering that he couldn't possibly frighten him while he was under his cloak. He remained observing her for quite a while and seeing that she wasn't about to raise her face by herself, he removed the cloak from his body and put it inside his pocket.

He moved towards her and said quietly, "Hello?"

The girl promptly looked up at his direction. She was startled by his voice. And then Harry saw her for the first time. Emerald green eyes like himself and face smeared in tears which suggested that she was crying for quite a while and his eyes followed her face to the spot to see a lightening bolt shaped scar that he was all too familiar with. Yep, she was the one.

Frightened by a boy suddenly appearing in front of her, the girl froze momentarily.

"Hello," Harry said again, "What is your name child?"

In retrospect, it was quite amusing to hear him call the girl by child. Since he himself was about her age but he didn't let his thought linger on that topic for much time.

The girl didn't answer him. Perhaps she was frightened by him. Harry could understand how it felt to a strange boy coming to make conversation with him. After all, in his day, he had to be in constant watch against Dudley's face who were a little more excited to play a good game of Harry Hunting.

Deciding to break the silence himself, he said,

"My name is Harry Evans. I live around here but I have to say, I have never seen you around." Well, that was a lie. But seeing that it was a little girl, Harry figured she won't mind much.

"Li.. Lilac Po..tter," she whispered.

"Oh.. Lilac is it? What a beautiful name!" Harry said in an amusing voice dispelling the thought that her name was eerily similar to that of her mother. Well, at least she didn't say her name was freak.

"Y..You think so?" the girl asked timidly.

"Yeah! It is a beautiful name after all. Take my name for example, Harry. Not so beautiful if you ask me." he offered.

"I think.. Harry is a good name." Lilac said.

"Thank you Lilac, Say, can I call you Lila?" Harry asked.

"O..kay," she whispered again.

"Let's do this again then. Pleased to meet you Lila," Harry offered his had to her.

She slowly gave her own hand to him in a handshake.

"Pleased to meet you.. Harry." She said in a much cheerful voice than earlier.

But Harry couldn't return her cheerful mood because, while he had offered his hand to Lila, he had performed an elementary diagnosis charm on her and the results were not to his likening. Not at the least!

She had cuts and bruises in many parts of her body and was severely malnourished. Harry had almost forgotten how much he had hated the Dursleys in his own days and could only thank the gods that he somehow managed to control his magic to not flare up.

"So, Lila," Harry said warmly, "It is quite late right? Don't you have to return to your home? Let's go, I will escort you back."

The changed expression of her face when he mentioned her home, didn't escape the notice of Harry. He especially noted the look of pain and fear on her face when he had mentioned it.

She reluctantly took up on his offer and began making his way back towards the Number 4, Private Drive.

On his way, Harry learned a thing or two about his counterpart. First thing was, she was extremely shy. Much more than he had been. Perhaps it had to do with her being a girl? Harry thought for a moment.

Secondly, she too was ten years old and her birthday was on the same day that his had been. On 31st of July.

He tried to talk some more to her but quickly found out that she couldn't make much conversations due to her shy nature. After taking her back to her house, Harry made her promise to meet again at the park and walked away briskly lest he let his magic flare again due to his anger towards the Dursleys.

After he had left Lilac Potter to Number 4, Harry put on his invisibility cloak and faded to the Diagon Alley. To the boundary of the Knockturn Alley to be precise. From there on, he walked towards a particular apothecary that he knew hosted the best potions in the entire Diagon and Knockturn Alley. One thing that he found out about his invisibility cloak was the ramification of what hiding from the reality itself meant. To be precise, he found that no wall nor door stopped him from entering anywhere.

The apothecary was already closed down but that couldn't stop Harry from entering. Even the wards that were in place didn't register his entry which was quite fortunate because those were particularly vicious wards which would have taken him not an insignificant time to dismantle. Making his way inside the apothecary, he moved towards the cabinets where the potions of his interest were and checked it for any wards against theft. Fortunately, there were no such wards in the cabinets and the only ward of interest had been at the entrance of the apothecary itself. He quickly picked up the healing potions and the nutrition potions and faded out from the apothecary and in to a familiar looking cupboard under the stairs.

Lilac had been preparing dinner for the family while Petunia and Vernon were loudly discussing how fortunate she was that they had taken her in and Dudley was whining about about a new video game when Harry faded inside the cupboard.

The cupboard was, as always, quite small. Harry deposited the potions that he had taken from the apothecary to the cupboard and put a time triggered compulsion charm in them and a strong muggle repellent charm too in case Petunia or Vernon were to venture inside the cupboard. Not that they would but still, some precautions won't harm.

Harry also added a mild confunding potion so that Lilac won't remember ever drinking the potion at all. While he did feel bad about messing with her memories but since he didn't want Lilac to know about the world of spells and potions just yet, he felt that his use of the potion was justified.

Harry set the compulsion charms so that Lilac would first drink the healing potions and then the nutrition potions and the confunding potion at last. Again, he felt a little bad about using compulsion on children but his earlier reasoning won against his feelings.

After setting up the potions, Harry faded outside the cupboard and into the Diagon Alley. If he remembered correctly, it was one month remaining until it was Lilac's eleventh birthday, the fateful day that Hagrid would come knocking on her door and change her world. Up until then, Harry decided to wait and just be her friend.

The next day, Harry found himself on an empty bed of the Leaky Cauldron. It was curious that he didn't feel bad about simply fading to Tom's kitchen to nick some food and then to one of his emtpy rooms to sleep but Harry didn't let it bother him much.

Today was the start of new day and Harry wanted to do some things. He quickly faded to Kitchen again and nicked some toast and butter discretely. After eating his breakfast, He pocketed his invisibility cloak and made his way towards Gringotts. He wanted to verify something.

Inside the Gringotts was the same that he remembered, that is before he had destroyed it while performing that stunt with the pet dragon. He made his way to one of the counters and said in a cool voice belying his stature of a ten year old.

"Hello master Gripum, I wish to know my inheritance."

If the goblin was startled at the child in front of him knowing his name, he didn't let it show. He grunted a bit and summoned a goblin who led Harry towards a room which Harry knew was the room of inheritance magic.

The goblins, unlike many wizard's opinion, were a scary bunch. Scary in the sense that the magic that they knew were some of the most startling branches of magic ever invented. Inheritance magic was one of those magic which Harry knew was used to determine one's inheritance using his blood. He was curious about the identity that he had taken, or rather, he was given to by Lady Death. Obviously he could not be Harry James Potter in this universe because he was never born so the question was, just who was he?

"Drop your blood on this plate," the goblin whose name escaped Harry's mind gave him a golden saucer which was quite big.

Harry merely shrugged and taking the knife that was placed on top of the saucer, pricked his finger to drop a single drop of his blood which, to others, would seem a bit odd seeing that the quantity of blood that he gave was so small while the size of the saucer suggested otherwise. But Harry knew that the inheritance magic only required his blood and even the smallest amount would do. He was not going to slit himself and let his blood fill the saucer no matter how big the saucer was.

The goblin sneered at him but took the saucer to the center of the room where a pedestal stood. He deposited the saucer on the pedestal and began to chant a series of complex words which Harry thought was in Gobbledegook. While the goblin was chanting the spell words, Harry felt the magic of the room moving and gathering at the pedestal. After a short while, the ritual completed and a parchment lay on top of the saucer. Before the goblin could collect the parchment, Harry moved forward and collected the parchment himself, much to the displeasure of the goblin.

A single name was written to the parchment, "Harry Evans".

'Why am I not surprised?' thought Harry to himself. Apparently, he had no father and no mother, or the inheritance ritual would have found it out. It was almost as if he suddenly decided to exist in the world at one time. Feeling glad that he didn't let the goblin see the parchment, he paid five galleons to the goblin (which he had stole from the Leaky Cauldron last night, seriously he needed to reimburse poor Tom) and hastily made his way outside the room.

Outside the counter, he asked one of the goblins, "Say master Grippuk, does Gringotts has any account under the name Harry Evans?"

The goblin looked at some registry and gave a frightful sneer, "No."

"Of course," Harry said to himself and quickly made his way out. First thing first, he needed some money.

It was the middle of the day and Harry was still lost on how he was going to earn some money. It was not that he was in dire need of it. Of course he could just fade in anywhere and take whatever he wanted, but that is hardly a thing that a gentleman does now is it? Besides, money would simply make things much more simple.

"Think Harry, think," he muttered while sitting inside the Leaking Cauldron.

In his past universe, he had been an Auror. But he could hardly go into the DMLE and say, hey, want a ten year old kid? No, that wouldn't do. He was much too young to go knocking into the DMLE. But was DMLE the only place where his abilities could be useful? Surely not.

Suddenly Harry had a thought and he faded out of the Leaky Cauldron's bathroom and emerged at a pub at the Knockturn Alley which was disgustingly named as Unicorn's Blood.

However distasteful the name was, Harry made his way inside the pub after pocketing his invisibility cloak and casting a variant of glamor charm that made his face a blur.

When he opened the door, he was attacked by a strong smell of firewhisky and wizard's breath, a popular brand of wizarding ciggarattes. Many a heads turned towards his direction. Among those were many who were directly alarmed at a kid storming inside such an establishment and others were amused at him hiding his face with a particularly strong charm.

Harry directly made his way towards the bar and in a not so small (nor subtle) voice said, "I need a job."

The entire pub became silent. And then simultaneously all of them roared with laughter.

Mixed among those laughters were some snide comments about a kid, mother's tits, nana's boy and whatnots. Not that it particularly bothered Harry, although he would be lying if he said being looked down at by less than average magicians made him particularly happy. Deciding to silence them at once, Harry let his magic loose.

Instantly the air became thick with magic, so much that it felt as if it was weighing all of them down and crushing them beneath its weight. They could not even breathe, let alone laugh. All in all, it had a desiring effect of silencing all of them at once. Harry let his magic linger the air for a while more (during which five wizards collapsed at the floor and many of others sported a deathly pale face) and the reeled all of it back in.

Many wizards and witches took a breathe of relief as if a heavy weight finally lifted off from their breasts. And then Harry asked again in a frighteningly calm tone, "I need a job."

This time, none of the people laughed. After a short while, a heavy looking man slowly made his way towards Harry who had his face hidden by a blurring charm (a variant of that used by the unspeakables), and sat beside him.

"What type of job you looking for?" The man asked him while ordering a firewhisky for him and a butterbeer for Harry (Harry rolled his eyes at the difference in the orders).

"Anything really, Beggars can't be choosers after all. But I'd like if I don't have to kill anyone, really distasteful business that." Harry said in his childlike but filled with power voice.

The man nodded at him and then said, "I am a wandmaker by the name Nadir and as it so happens, I am in need of some unicorn hairs. Can you procure some for me?"

"Tail hair I presume? (The man nodded) How many do you need and how much for each of them?" Harry asked carefully.

"Ten long hairs would do. I'll give you five galleons for each." The man said.

Harry merely rolled his eyes and said, "Ten galleons for each and I'll get you twenty of them."

"You could do that?" Nadir asked but Harry merely shrugged, "But ten is too much?"

"Don't cheat me Nadir. You are not Ollivander so I can only presume that you make illegal wands and as the rate of illegal wands go, I would say you still make a killer out of the deal. Take it or leave." Harry said in a not so kind tone.

Nadir thought (rather made a show of trying to think) for a while and nodded solemnly, "Come to Nadir Wands in Knockturn Alley and I'll buy it off of you."

Nadir paid for both his and Harry's tab and then made his way out of the pub.

"I suppose I have to go to the forbidden forest then," Harry thought to himself, "But if I am to go there anyway"

He then said loudly to all of the wizards present, "Do any of you fine witches and wizards need some Acromantula silks or venom?"

Immediately two or three hands shot up to the air to which Harry snorted, "Are you a bunch of kids or what? Come over here and buy me some drinks and we can make a deal."

It was around three or four in the afternoon and Harry found himself in the middle of the forbidden forest. At this moment, Harry could only thank Lady Death for the gifts for he could not possibly have made his way inside the wards of the Hogwarts without at least alerting the Headmaster about his presence (which he wasn't too keen on doing).

Right now, he was inside his invisibility cloak and standing in the midst of a herd of Unicorns. Unicorns were, Harry knew, pure creatures and there was no way that a man such as Harry who had clearly killed many a Dark wizards during his Auror days could be in there presence without them running away from him.

"Although, I am in a child's body.." Harry thought to himself.

It was entirely possibly that his soul was not tainted as it had been during his Auror days but Harry rather didn't want to tempt the situation. As it were, it already took him too much to track the herd of the Unicorns by himself.

Harry had, in the process of tracking the Unicorns, already collected a five of their hairs but it was clearly not enough. He then moved towards the end of the herd towards one particular male unicorn whose tail happened to be quite thick. Harry silently cast a combination of calming charm to the unicorn, numbing charm to its tail and a compulsion charm to stop it from moving its tail too much. It was a nervous Harry that somehow managed to pluck one of the unicorn's tail hair without startling it.

Progressing in the similar manner, Harry then proceeded to collect hairs from other unicorns since he didn't want to pluck too many from a single one. Also, Harry was careful to not pluck from any foals as it would be a form of child abuse (sort of?). After having collected more than twenty of the unicorn tail hairs, Harry then stashed them inside his pocket and made his way towards the place where Aragog lived.

In the middle of his walk, Harry couldn't help but think about his cloak again. What death had said was indeed quite correct. The cloak was now masking his entire existence itself from the reality. After all, the unicorns, whose sense of smell wasn't something to joke about, could not smell him even when he was right in the middle of them. Thinking back, had his previous cloak hidden his smell so well? And not only smell but even as he walked towards Aragog's coven, he found that he wasn't leaving any footprints on the ground! For the first time Harry felt what it was to hide from Death's itself. He had never felt so.. protected in his life.

Thinking about these things, he went inside the cave.

Collecting the silk itself was quite easy. After all, Acromantula weren't so frugal with their silks as it lied everywhere on the ground. Harry had to simply scoop two or three bundles of it (reminding himself not to be disgusted with the fate of the animal that was wrapped inside the silk bundle). As it turned out, collecting the venom too wasn't much of a hassle. All it took Harry was a wandless compulsion charm fired towards one of the adult Acromantula to make it come outside the cave all alone. Harry then simply stunned it and filled three of his vials with the Acromantula venom.

After wrapping up his business, Harry faded out of the forbidden forest and in to the Nadir wand shop. Harry left two hundred galleons richer from there and then made his way towards the Apothecary where he promised to deliver the Acromantula venom. Afterwards he sold his Acromantula silk to one of the robe merchant and at the end of the day, Harry potter became a proud owner of seven hundred galleons. Not a bad day at all.

The sun was beginning to set down so Harry faded to his meeting place with Lilac Potter and found, much to his relief, that Lilac potter was sitting beneath the same tree and wasn't quite crying her eyes out.

Harry came out from the cloak and made his way towards her.

Extending his hands ahead, he greeted the red haired girl,

"Hello Lila, How do you do today."

She was again, startled and let out a small squeak but seeing Harry ahead of her, his hands extended and a brilliant smile on his face, she calmed down.

She then extended her own hands towards Harry and said in a small voice, "Hello."

Harry, while shaking his hands with her, again cast a small diagnosis charm and was happy to find that she had, indeed taken the potions that he'd left last night. Consequently, the cuts and bruises on her body were significantly healed and her body was not so weak as it had been the earlier day. Harry again smiled at her and gently sat besides her.

"Here Lila," he offered her a chocolate that he had collected from one of the sweet shops in the Diagon alley earlier.

Lila, at first, hesitated. But seeing that Harry was earnestly offering her the chocolate, took it with a small thanks and began eating it quite greedily.

"Oh you poor child," Harry mused to himself. Her happiness on eating something so insignificant as a chocolate only showed how much she was deprived of while living with the Dursleys. It took him a significant effort to again control his magic from flaring up from his anger towards the Dursleys.

"Eat slowly Lila, there is some more if you want," Harry said to her kindly.

Lila became embarrassed at Harry's comment and visibly slowed her pace of eating.

"Are girls and boys really that different?" Harry thought to himself and then to Lila's behavior. He mused what his reaction would have if a strange boys had given him some chocolate to eat. Would he have eaten it? Probably. Would he be so shy and embarrassed? He didn't know.

After spending some more time with her and then making some small talks, Harry again escorted her back to Number 4 Private Drive. After a while, he again faded in to her cupboard and refilled the potions. He then left the cupboard again, feeling a little guilty about leaving her all alone to the Dursleys but again reminded himself that it was only a month before Hagrid would come to change her world. He then faded out of the cupboard and into the Leaky Cauldron.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Today was his birthday. To be precise, today was July 31st both his and Lilac's birthday. Right now, Harry Potter was making his way towards the infamous Unicorn's Blood pub in the Knockturn alley. He was dressed in a black cloak which was enchanted with a blurring charm which blurred his face.

He arrived at the pub and then opened the door to find the familiar scent of firewhisky and tobacco. Unlike a month ago, when his entrance had pulled quite a bit of murmur with the crowd, right now, no one even batted an eye to the entrance of a kid into such shady establishment. It was because they no longer saw him as kid, they saw him as 'Little Sorcerer'. A rather bland name to Harry Potter's liking. But then again, he hadn't any say on his name so he had to endure it somehow.

The locals of the pub knew that Little Sorcerer was not to be messed with. As was evident by the fiasco that occurred ten days earlier when Little Sorcerer wiped the floor with five of the wizards who were dumb and drunk enough to cause trouble with him. It was not only that, rumor was that the Little Sorcerer was an extremely formidable mercenary. Not only could he procure Acromantula venom with much ease, he could also infiltrate almost any wards that was in existence. Rumor was that he had once infiltrated the DMLE in behest of a client who wanted his records stolen. But rumor was also that he refused to take any immoral jobs (the said wizard only wanted his apparition penalty dropped as his father-in-law refused to give his daughter to a person with ANY Auror records and he'd vowed to never use Apparation until he perfected it.)

Of course there were many speculations about the Little Sorcerer himself. Some said that he was actually a much formidable wizard who was a victim of a rather nasty potion accident which shrunk his body forever. Others said that he was a former Unspeakable who was involved in a unfortunate time turner incident. Others also speculated that he was cursed by he-who-must-not-be-named himself. Funny thing was, everyone who was acquainted with him agreed that he was not a child. It was perhaps true in a sense. Then again, it wasn't quite true in other sense. Whatever the rumors be, almost everyone of the pun recognized him as an extremely powerful wizard and respected him due to his magical prowess.

"Welcome Little Sorcerer," the owner of the pub said.

"I told you to not call me that Darsil. You know I hate that name." Harry complained.

"Ah, but I have nothing but respect for you Little Sorcerer and you know that I do not insult you with the name." Darsil clarified.

"Indeed.." Harry sighed in resignation. It appeared to him that this name wasn't going to leave him for quite a while. Well, at least it was better than Boy-Who-Lived or Chosen-One.

"Any new requests, Darsil?" Harry asked.

Harry quite liked this middle aged man whose naming sense (Unicorn's Blood? Really? And he also suspected that the Little Sorcerer originated from Darsil himself.) belied his kind disposition.

"More than a thousand galleons right?" Darsil asked him.

Over the month, requests for the Little Sorcerer had only increased and it was becoming too much for Harry to handle. Thus, he had introduced a rule that he was no longer taking any jobs for less than a thousand galleons. It was quite effective in cutting the incoming work requests.

"You know me very well." Harry said to Darsil.

"Fine then. There are a total of two jobs with bounty over a thousand galleons." Darsil began, "Job number one requires you to break into the Gringotts vault number-"

Before he could continue, Harry quickly cut him off, "You know I don't take Gringotts job Darsil."

"Yes yes, but still I had to ask. Anyways, job number two is a bit.. odd," Darsil said.

"How so?" Harry asked in a curious voice.

"The job requires you to procure a hair of Amelia Bones," Darsil said reluctantly.

Harry sharply replied, "You know I don't do shady jobs Darsil. I can deduce that the hair is to be used in a Polyjuice potion and someone wants to impersonates Amelia Bones. I can't in my good conscience do this job."

"Yeah well, you see," Darsil said, "I have been assured that the client will do no such thing with the hair. While he admits that he wants the hair for the Polyjuice potion, he is also ready to take an unbreakable vow specifying that he will not misuse it."

"Well, misuse is a rather broad term isn't it?" Harry said, "Why does he wants to impersonate Madam Bones anyway?"

"Ahh, that's the thing. He doesn't." Darsil said.

"He doesn't?" Harry asked in an suspecting tone.

"Yes, He personally doesn't wish to impersonate Amelia Bones. Thing is, he is a junior Auror who has a bit of.. shall we say, crush, on Madam Bones and there are witches who for a couple hundred of galleons are more than willing to.. ahem, do the deed so to speak."

Darsil, while knew that the Little Sorcerer in front of him was no mere child, still found it difficult to speak about adult things in front of him.

"Ohh.." realization dawned on Harry as he replied, "I will not deliver her hair. I will, however, deliver a polyjuice potion with Madam Bones' hair that is worth an hour of impersonation. I will also require the unbreakable vow that specifically prohibiting the client from using the potion in anything other than.. doing the deed as you so ingeniously put. If the terms are agreeable then I will deliver the polyjuice."

"Fair enough," Darsil said, "To be honest, I was rather surprised that you agreed at all."

"Ah my dear Darsil, why would I deny a young lad his fantasies? Specially if he is paying me so well."

"Very well, I shall speak to him and offer him your terms. Although, I am quite sure that he will eat it up."

"Oh and Darsil," Harry said as he stood up to pay for his drink, "From today onwards, I won't be taking jobs anymore."

Seeing the alarmed look on Darsil (no doubt from losing one of the main attraction of his pub) Harry quickly clarified, "Don't be so aghast. I am only saying that I won't accept any jobs worth more than a thousand galleons. And seeing as you are acquainted with my set of skills, I rely on your judgement to forward only the correct job requests to my post box in Gringotts."

Harry as Little Sorcerer had already gathered too much attention as it was and thus decided to lay low for a while. Darsil could realise the fact and thus relaxed visibly.

"Bye then Darsil."

With brisk steps, Harry made his way outside the pub.

It was midnight and Harry was standing outside a familiar light house. Yes, it was the same lighthouse where his life had changed entirely. Hagrid had burst open the door of the lighthouse and told him that he was a wizard, opening a whole new world to him. Right now, inside the lighthouse were Vernon, Petunia, Dudley and Lilac.

Over the month, Harry had, without missing a single day, met with Lilac in the park beneath the tree. Slowly but surely she had come out of her shell and accepted Harry as her friend. Of course, the chocolate had helped quite a bit too. Similarly, Harry had dropped the nutrition potions in her cupboards over the entire month and the effect had shown considerably. Lilac potter was no longer the famished girl with a dull look over her face but now she was a healthy little girl with an air of happiness around her. Although, Harry suspected that she only showed this happy demeanor around himself only. Not that he felt bad about it but he did feel a bit sad that a child of mere eleven could not act naturally around her family.

Harry smiled while remembering their last conversation a few days ago,

"There really was a letter for me Harry!" Lilac squeaked.

"To you really?" Harry asked.

"Of course! And what's more, they also knew where I was sleeping at! It was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs! How could they possibly know that?" She asked.

"By magic," Harry almost said.

Lilac became a little sad and said, "Uncle Vernon won't let me see the letter at all! Today too I just managed to escape from there. Harry.. I don't think they'll let me out tomorrow and Uncle Vernon would punish me no doubt!"

"Don't worry Lila," Harry assured her.

Harry knew that Vernon couldn't punish her, courtesy of a simple but rather strong compulsion charm (which came dangerously close to an Imperio) on their entire family. But he decided to go and renew the charm in case the original had lost its strength.

"Even if they do not let you out tomorrow or even the next day, I will always wait for you here," Harry said in a gentle voice.

"Promise?" Lila asked him.

"Of course! And whoever sent you those letter would no doubt keep on sending until you get to see it!" This Harry knew from personal experience.

His words instantly lifted up the mood of Lilac and she managed a small smile.

Over the next day, as Harry suspected, the Dursleys moved her to the second room upstairs but the letters didn't stop. Of course Harry could have personally caught one of the letters and then given it to Lilac but he decided against it. The temptation of a big revelation by Hagrid in a remote light house and Lilac Potter's face on hearing it was too much to pass on. Harry had recast the compulsion charm on the Dursleys that prohibited them from hitting Lilac and as a result he was a little relaxed when the days went by and Lilac didn't come out. He knew that she had been put under a house arrest but that didn't matter because July the thirty first was coming on soon.

Harry saw a boat making its way towards the lighthouse. Glancing at his muggle wristwatch that contained an esoteric set of runes allowing it to work despite of the over abundance of magic inside Harry's body, Harry muttered in a small voice, "About time, Hagrid."

He then passed inside the walls of the Lighthouse unhindered and waited for Hagrid's grand entrance.

At the corner of the room, Harry could make out a sad looking Lilac potter drawing a birthday cake on the ground and saying happy birthday to herself which again threatened Harry's magic to rampage all around the room. He promptly calmed himself down with knowledge that everything was now going to be alright to his poor ward.

A broken door, a huge argument, a rather stupid comment by Vernon and a pigtail on Dudley later, Harry faded out from the lighthouse and into his room (which he purchased legally by the way) at the Leaky Cauldron. His face was quite content on seeing a scene that had been the life changer of both him and little Lilac Potter. With happy thoughts in his mind, he slept peacefully.

The next day, he didn't follow Hagrid or Lilac Potter in Diagon Alley because he reckoned that the trip would be safe with Lilac in care of Hagrid. Instead, he made a trip.. to Azkaban.

In his Auror days, he had been thoroughly acquainted with the internal layout of Azkaban and he knew where he wanted to go.

When he faded inside the room, he noticed that he didn't feel the cold that normal people felt when entering Azkaban cells. Once again he was reminded of just how powerful one of the deathly hallows really was. At one corner of the room, he could distinctly make out a person who was huddled up. Yep, it was padfoot alright.

Over the month, Harry had repeatedly argued himself of what to do with Lilac's godfather. On one hand, he couldn't possibly release him early and change things too much and on the other hands, he couldn't knowingly condemn the man to such a miserable fate for two more years. Only recently had he made his decision. While he would not free Sirius just yet, he would make his stay here a little more bearable.

"Patronus Warda," he muttered from inside the invisibility cloak.

Instantly he could feel a ward setting up inside the room. It was an ingenious piece of magic that was discovered by none other than Hermione herself. The ward drew on the positive emotions of the person who was inside it and brought it to surface and empowered itself by the positive emotion to battle the Dementor aura. While it was significantly weaker than a corporeal patronus, to an occupant of the Azkaban cells, it was no less than a boon. The temperature of the room went up visibly and padfoot raised his head, signifying that he too had noticed the change. The Dementor would not find out about the ward due to their lack of understanding and the wizard won't too as long as they did not step inside the ward itself. Overall, as long as Sirius didn't shout on top of his lungs that he was getting a better treatment, no one would be the wiser.

Harry had half a mind to leave some nutrition potions in the cell but he figured that Sirius would be much more difficult to fool than young Lilac potter, thus he decided against it at the end.

He then faded out from the Azkaban cell and to Florean and Fortescue. He cast a very strong notice-me-not charm on himself and removed his invisibility cloak. Afterwards, he let the notice-me-not charm fade slowly and ordered a rather large scoop of ice cream. He was eating his ice cream with a child like glee when he was suddenly disturbed by a tarny owl landing on his table. He was already undoing the letter on its feet when halfway through he realised that there was no one in this world who would send a letter to him. A select few, which meant a single owner of a shady pub in Knockturn Alley, only knew the address of his post box office in Gringotts and couldn't send him an owl personally.

He noticed the envelope of the letter and shouted out in a rather loud voice, "What the fuck!"

Mothers promptly covered the ears of their child and glared daggers at him but he didn't pay them any mind because he was quite stunned by the letter that was inside the envelop which had Hogwart's crest on it. It was an extremely familiar letter. One which was addressed to a Harry Evans. The letter was written by Minerva McGonagall notifying him of his acceptance and listing the required materials that included a cauldron, potion supplies, wand, robes and books among other things. Indeed, it was a Hogwart's acceptance letter. His Hogwart's acceptance letter.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" He swore again much to the glare of house witches around him and a disapproval of a stern looking Mr. Fortescue but his head was spinning too much for him to care about them. Apparently, he was to go to Hogwarts again.

It was two whole hours afterwards that he found himself in Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions. In these two hours, he had lost count of how many times he had cursed Lady Death for springing this unexpected event on him and it didn't help that he could hear a faint laugh on the back of his head. Regardless, there was nothing to do other than either attend or not attend Hogwarts and he had a faint suspicion that if he were to choose not to attend, Fate would personally drag him out to the school anyway. He rather didn't want to tempt the fate and relented to this Fate's whims.

"Really, I should expect it by now.." Harry said to no one in particular while Madam Malkin was taking his measurement.

"Every time, every single time I end up in these bizarre events. Why in the name of sweet Merlin and Morgana do I have to attend Hogwarts again!" Although he had already resigned himself to the fate, he couldn't help but complain anyway.

He was already in a foul mood when Madam Malkin touched a rather sensitive place, "Hey watch it will you!" Harry shouted.

Madam Malkin gave him a look that was a mixture of anger and embarrassment but said nothing in return.

"Sorry.." Harry grumbled after his rage had settled a bit.

"You look troubled.. Mr..?" Madam Malkin asked,

"Evans.. Harry Evans."

"Oh, why are you in a foul mood, if I might ask." She inquired.

"Nothing.. just, I woke up on the other side of the bed," Harry evaded her question.

"I see.. Must have been a rather bad side.." She offered.

For a while, Harry felt a little awkward. Even in his earlier universe, Madam Malkin hadn't conversed with him much. As far as he knew her, she was a strict professional.

When she saw that Harry wasn't talking, she promptly took lead of the conversation, "You know, often times we find ourselves in places and situations that we are less than happy to be in. I suspect that you are in one too. As far as I can tell, all of the first years that come to me for robes are always quite excited about it and frankly, you are the first one that is less than excited."

Less than excited, Harry snorted at the vast understatement. Madam Malkin paid him no mind and continued,

"Mr Evans, I can hardly tell why you are upset but I can, however, offer you a bit of advice. If you are where you are less than happy to be then you should run away from there," She cut off Harry from protesting, "If, however, you can't run away from that place then all you can do is to.. go with the flow, so to speak. Look for good things Mr. Evans. I am sure you can find them around."

It was a very confused Harry Evans that emerged from Madam Malkin. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why she had said those words to him but he figured that her advice was worth taking. Look for good things, she had said. Well, he could be close to Lilac for one thing. Anyways, worrying any more would not do. Thinking along these lines, he made his way to the one place where he, for the life of him, didn't want to be at: Ollivanders.

It was close to the evening and Harry figured that Lilac had already purchased her wand. Regardless, he made his way into the store and was once again startled by a creepy looking Mr Ollivander.

Oh he didn't think too bad about the man as he had been a very close friends with him over the years but that didn't stop him from cussing out loudly on being startled like that.

"Ah.. I must apologize Mr..," Ollivander asked.

"Evans, Harry Evans," Harry said.

"Mr Evans then, I really don't think that I have seen you around here much," Ollivander asked him.

"Yes.. err.. I have recently moved here you see." Harry offered reluctantly.

"I see I see.. Doesn't matter really, it's the wand that chooses the wizard and I don't it has to do anything to do with where you come from."

'Too right,' Harry said to himself, 'Now show me the wands already dammit'

"Let's see the wands then. Please take your wand arm out."

Harry promptly offered his right hand. Ollivander took out some measurements and then brought a wand for Harry to try.

And the most curious thing happened. In his very first try, Harry felt the wand on his hand choosing him. The feeling of power surged onwards from his chest and a golden shower of spark shot through the wand.

"Excellent! 10 and a half inches, willow with dragon heartstring as its core. A very balanced wand which will serve you well for Charms, Transfiguration and Dueling. That will be 10 galleons then."

Seeing as Harry himself wasn't much too keen on spending anymore time with the decidedly creepy wandmaker, he promptly paid his fees and made his way out of the shop.

"Well, that was definitely new," he said to himself. In his first visit to the wandmaker, he had taken forever to find his wand. Thankfully, it didn't take him much this time around or he wouldn't have able to resist the temptation to hex the wandmaker, who for some reason, made him quite jumpy.

Harry had already purchased all of his supplies earlier before his wand (which showed just how much he wanted to avoid the wandmaker) and thus he wrapped up his shopping. It was now getting quite late and he was about to make his way to the Leaking Cauldron when he realised something.

He still faded back to his room and dropped his supplies but then he promptly faded back to the Diagon Alley in front of a jewellery shop. Fifteen minutes later, he walked back out from the room and faded to the park where he found a very happy Lilac potter waiting for him.

It took him only seconds to come out from his invisibility cloak and greet the little girl.

"Hello Lila, How have you been?"

To his surprise, Lilac Potter paid no heed to his extended hand and instead in an astonishing move, jumped over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Harry! You came!" she squeaked.

"Of course I came Lila, Didn't I promise?" He said rather smugly.

"The most amazing thing happened to me Harry!" She was now almost shouting with joy.

"Really?" Harry asked her, despite of knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Yes! In fact, last night uncle Vernon took us to a lighthouse and then I was really sad because I had no one to celebrate my birthday with! But then Hagrid came into the light house and then told me that I am a .."

Harry looked at her with a surprising look on his face. As far as he could remember, he was not allowed to tell others about him being a wizard. Hagrid had reminded it to to him before parting. Lilac too, hadn't really said anything yet but it was clear to Harry that she was rather excited herself so he was almost hoping to hear the word 'witch' from her lips. Thankfully, she reigned in at the last second.

A silence remained between the two of them and Harry promptly spoke to dispel it, "It's okay Lila, you don't have to say."

He knew after all and thus didn't want the poor girl to think that she had violated the statue of secrecy (not that she knew about the word itself).

"No! Harry! Really, I want to tell you.. You see, I wish I could tell you but I really can't! Please Harry, don't hate me!" her voice was almost desperate and this displeased Harry way too much.

So frightened was she about losing her one friend that her eyes had already started to show moisture. At that moment, Harry pitied the girl who only had a single friend in Harry to get by her horrible childhood and right then and there, he finally forgave Lady Death, who had denied him the afterlife and condemned him to this world.

"Stupid Lila, why would I hate you? I am sure that if you could have told me the secret, you would have told me already. See, I would never hate you. In fact, I even brought you something." Harry said while reaching to his pockets.

"Chocolates?" Lila asked.

"Nope, much better than that," Harry pulled a silver necklace which was rectangular in shape and had the engravings of a phoenix on it. Granted that Lila probably didn't recognize the phoenix yet but nevertheless, the necklace itself was quite exquisite.

"Happy birthday Lila," Harry gave the necklace to her.

"You remembered.." Lila said.

"Of course! I would have given you your present yesterday but your uncle," Harry fought to keep his tone neutral, "didn't let you out. So a belated present for your birthday I guess."

Lila took the necklace from him and wrapped it around her neck. The look on her face was simply heartwarming. Harry could feel what was going through her heart. One moment she had no friends and was practically alone. And at the other moment, not only did she found out about a whole new world but she also had two friends and both of them had given her a present. Tears were almost threatening to fill her eyes but she somehow managed to hold them back and instead jumped at Harry again, encompassing him with a delighted hug.

"Thank you soo much Harry! It is a most beautiful present." she squeaked.

Indeed the necklace itself was beautiful. It took him a hundred galleons to purchase it after all. But that was not all of the necklace. It was, in fact, enchanted. The enchantment was done by goblins which notified a guardian, typically parents, when the one who was wearing the necklace was in danger. Since the first year was going to be quite eventful for Lilac Potter, even if she didn't knew it herself, Harry felt that this gift was the most suitable to her.

Afterwards, Lila regained her composure and tried to talk about her day which was quite hard since she couldn't talk about anything magical without giving herself again.

"And this new school starts from September you know! I will be going to the school in a train. They even gave me a train ticket and all! I am going away to the Ho-school Harry!" She was practically jumping up and down in her joy. But almost immediately, her joy was all but gone.

Harry looked up at her only to see, to his utter bafflement, her crying!

"Lila, why are you crying?" A startled Harry asked.

"Harry! I will be going away! Away from you!" She said in a devastated voice.

"But, you are not going tomorrow are you.. There is still two months remaining if I recall, so we can spend the time together you and I," Harry attempted to console her but to his dismay found that she was inconsolable.

"But after that! I would be gone! Away from you. I don't want to go away from you Harry!" She cried.

"Lilac, you would still be coming for your summer holiday won't you? We can meet then," Harry said gently.

"But that is too long! I would be gone for too long!? I don't want to go away from you!" She was now crying without any restrain. Harry, however old he might be, found himself at loss and he all but believed that Lila was about to leave Hogwarts if it meant separating from him. He cursed the Dursleys again for festering her insecurities.

"You would have many friends in your school Lila." Harry played his final hand.

"But I want to be with you!" She cried again.

And only then Harry realised just why his Hogwarts letter had arrived for him. Apparently someone had already known that she would become quite attached (massive understatement) with him and had taken measures to ensure that his admittance so that she would attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry rather didn't want to do what he was about to do. He had planned all too well that he would attend Hogwarts but under a false glamour which was of a permanent nature than ordinary glamour charm but his plan went out of the window the minute Lila realised that she was not going to be separated from him. It was rather frustrating in its own that she would grow so fond of Harry in a mere month but seeing as she didn't have any friends and was utterly lonely for the majority of her childhood, it was rather understandable.

"Lila, what is the name of your school? Surely you can tell that much?" Harry asked.

Lila stopped her crying and then meekly replied, "H-Hogwarts."

Harry tried his best to fake a surprise, "Hogwarts! Lila, do you mean The Hogwarts? The school for witches and wizards?"

Lila gaped at him which signified that she apparently bought his less than perfect acting skills.

"Yes," she said.

"Lila! You are a witch!" Harry exclaimed (or rather, tried to).

"Yes!" Lila too shouted with a great glee. Apparently, her delight from discovering her identity had still not faded.

"I am sorry that I didn't tell you earlier Lila, but I am a wizard just like you! And I too am attending the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"Harry!" For the third time this day, Lila jumped at him and hugged him in excitement, "Why didn't you tell me you prat!"

"You know Lila, the secrecy and all that. I couldn't possibly tell that you were a witch!" Harry lied.

"Oh!" She bought it rather easily (much to Harry's discomfort)

"But do you know what this means Lila?" He asked her and then answered himself, "Both you and I are going to attend Hogwarts together! Isn't that great!"

By the time they were done with the conversation, Lila was all but flying in excitement. He escorted her again to the Number 4 Private Drive and then faded out to his room in Leaky Cauldron with a new worry to his name. Just what was he going to do about his appearance? If he changed it now, Lila would become distressed and if he did not, the teachers would recognize him almost immediately, courtesy of him being made in the image of James Potter with Lily Potter's eyes. Pushing this thing to the back of his mind, he finally collapsed due to the fatigue of the day and slept peacefully.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The two months passed by in a flash and Harry all but lazed around in his room except for the two times that he accepted the jobs posted to him by Darsil. One was a curse breaking request from Gringotts itself which asked him to retrieve an celtic artifact which was protected by a rather nasty curse. Of course he did so with perfect ease and the goblins, for the life of them couldn't figure out just how he passed the wards. The other was a hunting request posted by none other than the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures itself which required him repelling a Nundu that went rogue in some part of Africa. Why were the ministry offering him a job that came from Africa, Harry couldn't understand. But with an explicit permit to perform Imperio on the Nundu (which the ministry both of Britain and Africa happily provided him), he was able to coax it to a remote area, thus he felt that it was an easy enough job (Darsil had nearly choked when Harry had said that). Really, Nundu weren't a big deal for him, not anymore at least since he had the element of surprise on them and they essentially couldn't sense his presence, using a rather powerful imperio was rather easy (and surprisingly effective).

At the end of the two months, Harry was a satisfied owner of about Fifty thousand galleons which was not an insignificant amount. Money aside, his association with Lila had progressed to a greater degree and she was now as normal as an eleven year old witch could possibly be around him. The girl was a bundle of energy, which Harry found out not too long ago. Once her bodily weakness were taken care of, by a strict potion regiment, she just wouldn't sit tight! Every single evening, she would lead Harry from one part of the park to the other and more than once Harry had failed to keep up with her. But seeing that it was a good thing, he hadn't allowed to bother him.

Today was September 1 and Harry was waiting at the station patiently for Lila. Harry had a totally different look than he had at first when he had met Lila that is to say, his unruly hair look. Over the two months, he had slowly modified his appearance, nothing too drastic at a time. He cut his hair short and then got rid of his glasses and slowly changed his facial features slightly by using some expensive potions (anything could be found at Knockturn Alley!). While Lila had indeed commented on the more visible changes like the glasses and his hair but he had simply replied that he was trying a new look and then had the healer wizards heal his vision. While he was quite similar in appearance to James Potter but the similarity wasn't so blatant. And it had only helped when Lila had said that his new looks suited him better than his old one.

He was actually behind her for quite a while but since he was draped in his invisibility cloak and he wanted her to meet the Weasleys, he didn't help her outright. Surprisingly, the topic of platform had never come up during the past two months and she was as lost as Harry had been himself in his world. While he was pondering about these things, he noticed Percy Weasley coming out from the platform wall. Following him were the Weasley twins and then Ronald. Last but not the least was Lilac Potter. His ward.. and friend.

At first, Harry had hesitated to form a friendship with her. But when he realised just how damaged she really was, he couldn't help but comfort her. And soon they were friends already. Their friendship had, over the last months, only deepened once Lila found out that she would be attending Hogwarts together with Harry.

"There you are," Harry said to her.

"Harry!" she said in excitement and then launched into uninterrupted words mode, "Harry, I couldn't find you outside and then I couldn't find the platform and I asked the officer outside and he said that I was joking but I was not joking and he didn't really know where the platform was so I was getting worried and I overheard this family talking about Muggles and then followed them to the platform!"

"Hello," Harry greeted him.

"Whoa! Slow down there Lila, catch some breath would you!" Harry was simply amazed at her overly excited monologue.

"Come on, let's board the train."

Harry wandlessly cast a lightening charm on both of their trunks and lifted it with ease to the train. The two of them then made their way to a compartment which was previously occupied by none other than Ron Weasley.

"Hello, " Harry greeted him at first, "Mind if we sit here?"

"Not really," Ron replied rather stiffly.

It was quite odd that Ron was so stiff but Harry simply blamed it to him being nervous.

"I am Harry Evans, just call me Harry" he offered his hand.

"Ronald Weasley, call me Ron." Ron answered.

"Umm.." seeing them introducing each other, Lila hesitated a bit but a inviting look from Harry calmed her down, "I am Lilac Potter, please call me Lila."

Instantly, Ron's eyes darted to the scar, a behavior which was all too familiar to Harry but he knew better than to blame the poor lad for his insensitivity. After all, he was still a child.

"The Lilac potter!? Wicked!" He exclaimed.

Yeah, the same Ron alright.

Just then the lady with the trolley passed and offered the sweets which Ron politely declined but Lily managed to spend quite a bit on.

"I got Albus Dumbledore," Lila of course, knew who Dumbledore was, thanks to their conversation about the wizarding world for the entirety of the two months (He is the greatest light wizard alive, Lila!) so she was visibly excited about getting her first Dumbledore.

"I've got six of him," Ron said.

After a few more hours of conversation, the compartment door slid open and revealed a young Hermoine Granger.

"Hello, has anybody seen a toad? A boy by the name Neville lost one," she said it in her all too familiar bossy tone, which only managed to please Harry a little too much.

It was awkward for Harry to converse with his old friends who weren't really his friends at all, not in this world. But then again, these events spread a wave of nostalgia over him which managed to sweep him over.

"Oh, you are doing a spell then?" she looked at Ron who had his wand towards his pet rat (who wasn't exactly his pet rat) Scabbers and was trying to turn the poor thing yellow.

"Let's see. Of course, I have read all of the books but I have only tried the simple spells, they have worked for me however." She said it in a Hermoine-ish way.

While Harry wanted her to sit down and make some small talk with Lila, but she promptly left the lot of them in search for Neville's toad Trevor.

After Hermoine left, a smug looking Draco entered with his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle and made the same distasteful comments.

The train then finally arrived at the Hogsmead station and they were greeted by the familiar voice of Hagrid.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

Lilac promptly went towards Hagrid side and greeted him. Hagrid then took all of them towards the castle through the lake. And no matter if Harry was experiencing it for the second time in his life, he still felt that the castle was enthralling!

It was a stern Minerva McGonagall that greeted them at the doorsteps of the castle. She led them through the stairs into the Great Hall and made the same comments about Hogwarts house systems.

The moment they were ushered into the hall, Harry felt a huge wave of nostalgia crashing over him. This was it. The first place that he had called his home and now he was back!

The sorting ceremony started with the sorting hat's song and afterwards, the sorting began,

Hannah Abott was sorted into Hufflepuff along with Susan Bones, Zacharis Smith, Ernie McMillan and others.

Terry Boot, Padma Patil, Su Li, Anthony Goldstein and others were sorted into Ravenclaw.

Similarly, the Gryffindors had Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas along with a very upset Lilac Potter.

As to why she was upset it was because the Slytherins got Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass along with a Harry Evans.

Harry was, frankly, quite proud of her due to her resisting her tears. He suspected that it was perhaps due to his very early warning. A warning that he had repeated over and over in the past two months. One such conversation had gone in the following manner.

"I won't necessarily be in your house you know," Harry said to Lilac.

"But why not!? Both of us are friends aren't we?" She had been quite upset.

"Yes we are, but even twins do not necessarily get sorted into the same house so we might be in different houses. Speaking of which, where do you want to be?" Harry asked her.

"Well, Hagrid says all Dark Wizards come from Slytherin, so not Slytherin of course.. I think any other house would be fine." Harry knew that deep down she was afraid that none of the houses would take her in but he decided on not saying anything at the moment.

"Where do you want to be Harry?" Lilac asked.

"Well, I too don't know really. But I won't mind landing on any of the four houses. Even Slytherin for that matter," while it had made her quite upset that he didn't mind going on Slytherin but she hadn't said anything, much to her credit.

But, only a moment earlier when Evans, Harry had been called, Harry had seen that she was quite tensed.

"Hello," Harry gently asked the sorting hat.

"Hello Mr. Evans. Frankly Mr Evans, I do not know how to sort you. You have bravery in abundance and are loyal to your friends and family. Your intelligence is also quite superior and above all, you have the required ambitions and cunning with a fair bit of ruthlessness I might add. So just tell me Mr. Evans, where do you want to be?"

Upon hearing the words of the Sorting Hat, for the first time in this universe, Harry had seriously given some thought on this matter.

"Before you sort me O ancient hat of Godric, would you mind if I make a request?" He asked the hat.

"I will listen but I won't necessarily comply," the hat said cooly.

"Fair enough ancient hat, after my sorting you will come across a Lilac Potter. She would no doubt wish to follow me to my house but you would find that she doesn't belong there. So persuade her if need be and disregard her choices but do not let her come to the house that I am about to go. I say it again, She doesn't belong there. She needs friends who can look after her and who can help her grow. Would you consider it hat?" Harry asked him.

"Of course. I would not let her go to any house just because she has her friend there. But if she qualifies for your house, I won't stop her either. Now tell me, where do you want to go."

It was only moments later that the hat had shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table had been less than excited, which had perhaps a lot to do with his last name, Harry thought. As for Lilac Potter, she had become a little upset but since Harry had repeatedly said to her that the both of them won't necessarily be in the same house, she had somehow managed to contain herself.

After it was her turn, the hat had, taken quite a lot of time before coming to its decision. Harry pondered whether she really asked the hat to place her in Slytherin, a house that she hated quite a lot (which was quite amusing on its own) but whether the Hat had listened to Harry's suggestions or it did not, at the end, Lilac Evans was sorted in Gryffindor, which came as a relief to Harry.

After the feast was finished, Dumbledore made the same speech about avoiding the corridor on the third floor if one did not wish a painful and agonizing death and then the students were led to their houses by the prefects.

"Welcome to the most noble of the four houses, Slytherin," the prefect whose name escaped Harry's mind said to the group of first years.

"We in Slytherin are defined by cunning and ambition, as such not many of other student bodies like our houses or students. Faced with such prejudice, it is imperative that all of us show a united front to the entire school. So always remember, your fights with each other is to be limited to the house and outside the house, all of us look out for each other. Now, the boys dormitory is to the right and the girls dormitory is to the left. Off you go then."

Since most of the students were already exhausted, they quickly made way to their respective room.

"Of course, Father already had arrangements made for me in Slytherin house you know. Father was an influential student in his days and Professor Snape is my Godfather so Father had him make sure that the room was to my liking," a very smug looking Draco Malfoy was chatting excitedly with his cronies.

"Hello, I am Theodore Nott and this is Blaise Zabini," the two of them came towards Harry and introduced themselves.

"Harry Evans, Just call me Harry," Harry replied.

"Okay, Harry then, Tell me what sort of name is Evans?" Nott asked him.

"A good name perhaps?" Harry replied with a little sarcasm in his voice.

"I didn't mean that," Nott became a little red and the continued, "I mean I don't recall any prominent families with the name Evans."

"It's because I do not belong to any prominent family," Harry replied, "Is it going to be a problem?" Not that it would for Harry. He could care less if the brats didn't like his name but he said it anyway for conversation's sake.

"Err.. No I suppose," Theodore replied.

"What my friend means is that," Zabini took over from him, "Are you a pureblood?"

"Maybe, Maybe not," Harry replied. It was kind of true though. In this particular world where he was never born, he couldn't tell for sure who his families were and consequently he couldn't tell whether his blood was pure or.. impure so to speak.

"Halfblood aren't you," Draco joined their conversation.

"And you can tell this how?" Theodore asked.

"Well, if he was a pureblood, he would have told you already. And Slytherin doesn't accept any Mudbloods, so he has to be a Halfblood."

Harry was frankly, quite amused by Draco's answer. The boy had a point. And while it wasn't the case that Slytherin never accepted Muggleborns, His words nevertheless made sense.

"I don't have any problem with you Halfblood, Just don't forget your status in the house," Draco said smugly.

"Malfoy, you see, some people do not care what their blood status is," Draco was scandalized, "They only care whether they have talent in magic or not. And I can tell you this, you do not want to see me using my magic seriously," It was odd. Why was he arguing with a bunch of children?

"Heh, big words from a filthy halfblood," Draco said in a taunting voice.

Harry wanted to retort but then again, he thought that it would be quite a hassle if the argument escalated further. And he was an adult for Merlin's sake!

Seeing that Harry wasn't replying to his retort, Draco's face became flushed with the sense of victory and he left them.

"I don't have a problem with halfbloods you know," Zabini said.

"I don't too, and Draco is right in saying that you should be careful in the house. They don't call it the snake pit for without any reason." Nott added.

"Well boys, I am happy that you two don't have it against me. But the night is getting thick and frankly, I am quite tired. So goodnight?"

The two of them then left Harry alone and he promptly fell asleep on his bed.

"You know, you really ought to warn me before you abruptly whisk me away from my sleep," a grumpy Harry said to the vast expanse of whiteness that he was standing on.

"Where would be the fun in that?" Replied a feminine voice which instantly took the form of a beautiful looking Lady Death.

"So, any particular reasons I was kidnapped from my dormitory?" Harry asked.

"You were not kidnapped," Death said in an indignant voice, "You were just invited."

"Ah.. Invitation which I can't refuse. Sounds suspiciously like kidnapping doesn't it?" Harry offered.

"Maybe."

"So, tell me already why I am here?" Harry asked.

"I wanted you to be with the Chosen One. That is to say, close to her. Why did you go to the other house?" Death asked him.

"An almighty being like you, I think you know the answer already?" Harry asked, "Nevertheless, I might as well say to you. Lila was getting too attached to me. If I were to continue being on her side, I would have ended up influencing her too much."

"A noble reason, I think. But it is not all of it right?" Death offered.

"If you knew everything already, dragging me over here wasn't such a good idea. But yes, that is not all. While I can't be by her side, I can be amongst the Slytherins and make sure that they do not trouble her too much. Besides, she will make new friends in her own house and by a month or two, her dependence on me will weaken. Isn't it what you want? Her being independent and strong-willed?" Harry asked Lady Death.

"Yes. That was why you were sent there in the first place." Death replied.

"Which reminds me.. Now that she is no longer in the danger of being broken, I think that my task is finished? Isn't it?" He asked her.

"Yes and no," Before Harry could ask what she meant by that she promptly continued, "While she has been quite happy over the past three months and consequently, her heart has become somewhat strong, your task is not finished. I want you to be by her side and offer your help to her to defeat the Dark Lord."

"Tell me again, what stops me from collecting all the horcruxes, destroying them and then obliterate Quirrell? Thereby killing him at once and for all?" Harry asked.

"What stops you Little Sorcerer (Harry blanched), is that it is not your destiny to do so. She is the Chosen One, not you. You are only required to be by her side when she vanquishes the Dark Lord and you are to do nothing more than that."

Harry let out a huge sigh of resignation.

"Fine then. Anything more you have to discuss?"

"As it so happens, I do have a proposal for you," Death said.

"Nope, I am too young for you. Come back after a million or so years," Harry replied sarcastically.

Death paid him no mind and then continued of her own, "While you are indeed sent to this world to guard the Chosen One, I don't want you to spend your entire 'childhood' let's say, looking out for her. I want you to live your own life too."

"Are you mental? I can't live the life again! I am too old and tired for that. No, I will only guard her until she fulfills her destiny and then you will have to send me to the afterlife," Harry protested.

"That's the thing, see," Death started, "I can't do that."

"What do you mean you can't do that! You are Death for Merlin's sake!" Harry shouted.

"I am, indeed. But there are things that are beyond my control. I gave you a mortal body, which was within my power. But the moment you became a mortal, Fate took it upon itself to write a new destiny for you. In short, you are stuck in that world." Death said solemnly.

"Fuck you! Fuck Fate! Fuck it all!" Harry spat furiously, "I have already lived my life Death and I don't appreciate either you or Fate messing up with me anymore."

"Harry, I can understand that you are a little angry," she said.

"Little angry? LITTLE ANGRY? Talk about understatement!"

"Nevertheless, as I said, I am powerless in this case. But that doesn't mean that things will be that bad!" she replied.

"What do you know about going through puberty a second time," Harry spat again. He calmed himself down and took a huge breath.

"Err.. I can understand that it is litt.. I mean quite difficult for you. And with no one to talk to or complain to, things will only get more difficult. As such, I want to give you something, a friend that is."

"You want to give me a friend?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"In a way," Death clarified.

"Aah, do whatever you want. I am your bitch after all." Harry said venomously.

Death wanted to say something in return but decided against it.

"I apologize again Harry Evans. I wish you find happiness."

She then moved her palm towards his face and for a moment Harry thought as if she was going to carress his face but then she pushed her lightly on the forehead and Harry awoke in his bed.

It was not helping that Fate had manipulated him again. But seeing as there was nothing he could do, he decided to let it be.

Casting a Tempus charm, he saw that it was four o'clock in the morning and seeing as he was not going to get any more sleep, he left his bed and went outside the castle.

The morning air was cold and rejuvenating and Harry was breathing it in greedily. He went to the quidditch pitch and ran laps around it to work his body. After an hour and a half's worth of workout, he made his way to the Slytherin dungeons.

He made his way towards the bathroom and took a shower. Putting on his school robes, he walked towards the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was starting to be filled by the students. While the students were still sparse, the hall was quite abuzz with chatters.

He sat on the center table of Slytherin and then began eating his breakfast. Toasts and pumpkin juice.

As he was completing the breakfast, the students had started to come out of their dorms and the Great Hall was now full with students.

Harry looked towards the Gryffindor table where an excited Lila was chatting with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown and occasionally making some comments to Hermoine Granger. Harry couldn't help but smile at the scene but he was quickly interrupted by a voice by his side,

"Why are you smiling at Lilac Potter?" the said voice belonged to Blaise Zabini who had only recently arrived with Theodore Nott.

"She is a friend," Harry replied.

"You are friends with Girl Who Lived?" Theodore asked.

"I think I said it already."

"Don't get too close to the stupid bint Evans," the voice of Draco Malfoy interrupted the three of them.

Harry gave an angry look to the blonde boy but he was unfazed.

"Father wanted me to be friends with her you know. But she refused my friendship and instead chose to socialize with filthy mudbloods and blood traitors. I can tell that she will extremely regret it in her future," Draco said in a patronizing tone.

'No she won't,' was what Harry was thinking but again, he didn't speak.

Frankly, it was quite odd conversing to Draco Malfoy and the others like this. On one hand, he was reminding himself that Draco was but a child and he was an adult but on the other hand, he was getting pissed by his comments. One thing was for sure, the boy did have talent to rile others up.

"Shut up Malfoy," Harry said solemnly, "You are not to insult her in front of me."

"Oh.. She your girlfriend Evans?" Draco became more smug.

"She is a friend Malfoy. Not that you would know," Harry replied.

Why was he arguing with Malfoy of all people? Harry thought to himself.

"What do you mean by that Evans?" Draco growled.

"What I mean is Malfoy, not all of us has to beg their father to force his friend's children to spend time with them. Unlike you that is," Harry snickered.

Draco moved dangerously close to Harry along with his two cronies. Out from a corner of his eyes, he could see headmaster Dumbledore and other staffs looking towards them intently. He could also see that the Gryffindor table, particularly Lila, was eyeing them suspiciously.

'So much for a united front,' Harry thought to himself but before he could do anything about the dangerously close Draco, a remarkable thing happened.

A flash of fire suddenly appeared in the midst of the two. Harry had his years of experience which prevented him from startling too much but Draco, unfortunately, didn't have that advantage.

"AAH!" with a startled noise, he fell back on his buttocks.

The entire great hall, however, didn't erupt in laughter because a much more amusing thing was happening than Malfoy falling on his butt.

A phoenix had appeared in front of Harry! The phoenix was a handsome bird of golden red whose eyes were brimming with intelligence. Suddenly, it flew towards Harry and perched itself on his shoulders.

"Fawkes?" Harry asked but quickly realised that it was, in fact, not Fawkes. Harry had not seen Fawkes for many decades after his fight with the Dark Lord. Phoenix being the mysterious creatures that they are, Fawkes had made himself scarce after the death of Albus Dumbledore. Thus Harry could not really tell if it was Fawkes by the looks of the bird alone but somehow, he knew that it was not Fawkes.

Both Harry and the phoenix began to glow in a golden light. Harry felt as if his magic was singing to the bird and the bird was in turn, singing to him. He could not understand what was happening. In fact, only Albus Dumbledore at the staff table knew what has going on at the moment. They were bonding.

"Remarkable," Dumbledore said to himself but McGonagall heard it as well.

"What is happening Albus? Why is Fawkes sitting on the boy's shoulder?" She asked the Headmaster.

"It is not Fawkes, Minerva," Dumbledore replied and Minerva McGonagall realised it at once.

"But Albus, phoenix are so rare! If it is not Fawkes, then.. could it be? A phoenix appeared for the boy?" She asked.

"It surely appears so Minerva. Remarkable isn't it? Two phoenix in a single castle!" Albus chuckled.

"Who is this boy Albus? I know his name is Harry Evans but I don't really know anything about his family or upbringing." McGonagall asked Dumbledore.

"I think he is an orphan Minnie. As for his upbringing, I think the fact that a phoenix is bonding with him says much more than I could possibly tell you."

"But Albus, how can he be in Slytherin?" McGonagall was looking scandalized.

"Minerva, are you perchance insulting my house?" A stiff looking Severus Snape asked her.

McGonagall instantly became red with embarrassment.

"Surely Severus, I did not mean that," she said while struggling to keep embarrassment out of her voice.

It appeared as if Snape was going to make a snide remark but he was quickly cut off by the headmaster, "Now now Severus, Minnie did not mean anything bad about your house. It is only that appearances of phoenix are quite rare with only ten or so recorded events. She is merely surprised."

Snape wasn't quite pleased with Headmaster's reply but decided to let it go anyway. Right now, he was quite interested in this new snake of his.

"Fuck," Harry muttered under his breath, "When she meant a friend, I did not think she meant a phoenix!"

He was getting much too attention from the entire Great Hall. All in all, the spectacle had occurred in a most difficult time of the day. Previously he had planned to live his life quietly without much fuss while guarding Lilac but now it appeared as if that plan was out of the window. Harry was suspicious if Lady Death had done it deliberately.

"What is your name boy?" Harry asked the phoenix on his soldier. It didn't reply but Harry knew it instantly, "Amber is it? Sorry about that girl. But you have got a nice name!"

The phoenix sang as if pleased with Harry's words.

"Amber, I have to go to the classes, so leave me be at the moment okay?" He had only asked and the phoenix burst into a golden ball of flame and disappeared from Hogwarts altogether.

While Harry was pleased that he now had a new friend to converse with, there was also the problem of the extra attention that he got. Before the Great Hall could erupt in whispers (which they had already started), Harry stood up from his table, collected his schedule and with a glance towards Lilac which seemed to say 'Hello Lila,' he walked out of the Hall.

And the entire hall erupted at once in furious chatter!


End file.
